Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[Dirknows]

"If they can add a guy without giving up the pick, great. If not, I think they would rather wait. "

And if I'm the Mavs and I can't get the right value for AD, I would rather wait too. The idea that ATL can add AD and keep all their most valued assets and only give up scraps, sorry I'm not your huckleberry.

I happen to believe that ATL is at a crossroads where they are feeling internal heat to push their trajectory up to the next level. Waiting several years (by which time their core good players are going to elevate onto much bigger salaries and they are likely to have a hard-to-manage cap) is not in their best interest. The teams around the league usually hold onto their very best players so they can build around them. This is a special window of opportunity for ATL (or someone) to add one of those guys that you can almost never find available.

If ATL is not the team in a hurry, then someone will be. (And ATL has to consider that if they don't do what it takes to get AD, some other team might, and might jump right past them and leave them still struggling.) Teams who want to take a jump up the ladder, they are always out there, emerging here and there. Some team will come to me because I have a star who is already fully developed as a player. In exchange, I want a young raw star (or equivalent pick/s) who will be superb somewhere down the road. If I am the Mavs, I gotta realize what I have, set my price, and be patient until that someone comes chasing with SERIOUS value they are willing to offer.

I don’t think Atlanta would be interested in a swap with the Mavs. But that could be something where they only potentially move down a few slots instead of out of the lottery completely. Mavs could also leap frog the Pelicans with the lottery so you just never know. I just can’t see that pick being included for anyone less than a Giannis level player.